Latharon wrote:

To port forawrd do I need to change my ip to a static ip?
It is currently Dynamic.
are there any risks to having a static IP or changing it to static from dynamic?

Also when I host a game how do I make it appear on the hub?

I use a Belkin F5D7230-4

G'day Latharon.

I'm going to give you a small lesson in Windows networking.

In networking, there are two kinds of IP address. An external IP address and an Internal IP address. The external IP address is the one that people use to connect to your computer. For example, mine is 202.76.166.212 (mine is static, by the way). To find out your external IP address, go to http://www.whatismyip.com. This will tell you the address users will need to join your game. It doesn't matter if it's dynamic or static.

The internal IP address is the IP that registers your computer on your network. It's what tells the hub/switch/router what computer is doing what and who belongs to it. This IP must be static (and generally always is unless there is an IP confliction) in order to forward ports. For example, mine is 192.168.1.3. To find out your internal IP address (in WinXP). Click on your start menu and use the Run command. When that comes up, type in "cmd" without the quotes and press okay. When the Command Prompt opens, type in "ipconfig" without the quotes. That'll display your Internal IP to you.

It is the internal IP that Port Forwarding takes into account. The External IP (your dynamic one) is of no consequence when forwarding ports. The only advantage to static external IP addresses is people can use the pager to join your game more often than not.

If you need further clarification, don't hesitate to ask.

Latharon wrote:

Ok thank you very much
I have one more questions though, there are 3 computers in my house with different private Ips, is changing the ip to static going to affect the other computers in negative ways?

Not at all. I have roughly five computers in my network. The only time a computer will cause a negative effect on the other is if you try to set two different computers the same internal IP address. Even then, one will pop up and say "I can't connect to this network, someone stole my ID".